In Today’s Deep Space Extra… A look at how the International Space Station (ISS) contributes to human deep space exploration. China’s lunar sample return mission is returning to the Earth today.

Space Science

Chinese spacecraft heading back to Earth with lunar samples
Spaceflightnow.com (12/15): China’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission is expected to arrive back on Earth on Wednesday at mid-day, U.S. time, landing in a remote region of Mongolia to end a mission that began with a November 23 liftoff. The cargo of several pounds of surface and subsurface material are the first gathered from the Moon and returned to Earth in more than four decades.

Ghostly circles in the sky can’t be explained and astronomers are excited
Space.com (12/15): A new Evolutionary Map of the Universe assembled with imagery obtained with the new Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder telescope has revealed cosmic smoke rings later dubbed odd radio circles that has astronomers puzzled. Were they close or far away? Associated with supernovas or bursts from star formation? Are they possibly evidence for wormholes in spacetime? The pursuit of an explanation continues.

 

Opinion

Utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) to enable humans to reach Mars
The Hill (12/15): The International Space Station (ISS) offers a valuable opportunity to lay the groundwork for the human exploration of Mars, write two executives of Explore Mars Inc. Among the issues the orbiting science lab could help to address are how astronauts will respond physically and mentally to the Martian, a checkout for environmental control and life support systems, and a testbed for new space suits. 

Artemis Accords: A step toward international cooperation or further competition?
Law Fare Blog (12/15): The Artemis Accords – a series of agreements that provide a framework to maintain peace in outer space and govern behavior on the Moon – were drafted as a tool for international cooperation.  However, some in the space law and policy community are concerned that the Accords could have the opposite effect, increasing competition and rivalry in space. 

 

Other News

Record-breaking liftoffs: Commercial space program logs a busy 2020
Coalition Member in the News – United Launch Alliance
Spectrum News 13 of Orlando (12/15): As 2020 draws to a close, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) counts 35 commercial launches and with more to come, 30 of them from Florida’s space coast, a record fostered in part by streamlined regulations and customers that include NASA and its astronauts and the military’s new Space Force.

Rocket Lab launches Japanese radar imaging satellite
SpaceNews.com (12/15): Launched from New Zealand on Tuesday, U.S. time, Rocket Lab’s Electron small satellite launcher placed the first satellite in a constellation for the Japanese radar imaging startup, Synspective, in orbit. 

Astra narrowly misses reaching orbit on second launch
SpaceNews.com (12/15): Launching from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska on Tuesday afternoon, startup Astra Space’s small rocket fell short of reaching orbit due to a premature second stage shutdown. Further fine tuning of the propellant mix ratio should upgrade the performance with a follow-on test launch attempt, according to company executives.